


Remember Home

by Anonymous_Skrub



Series: The Mass Effect Clusterfuck [2]
Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Cora is really really gay, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, M/M, Pre-Andromeda Sara/Ashley, Sara is an awkward gay toddler, Suvi is an awkward gay scot, Things go BOOM, ashley is gay now smd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2018-10-12 22:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10500999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Skrub/pseuds/Anonymous_Skrub
Summary: 1LT Sara Ryder of the Systems Alliance Marine Corps, Marine Special Operations, designation N6, honorary N7 (FIELD COMMISSIONED BY FLEET ADMIRAL HACKETT, CNO, SYSTEMS ALLIANCE NAVY) (that's right, bitches, I just made Hackett the Chief of all motherfucking Naval Operations) wakes up confused, apparently dead, and with major daddy issues. Thrown from her life as a marine special ops officer into the closed-off world of the Andromeda Initiative, she's in for a major adjustment. With a new crew, new tech, and new... everything, exploring Andromeda will be one helluva an adventure.AKA I suck at summaries and I managed to finish the game.





	1. Chapter 1

**“The Villa”**   
**Rio de Janeiro, Brazil**   
**N6 Qualification Course**   
**YEAR: 2179**   
**PFC SARA RYDER, SAMC (SYSTEMS ALLIANCE MARINE CORPS)**

“GREEN LIGHT! MOVE IT, MARINES, MOVE IT!” yelled the Jumpmaster. Sara jumped from the UT-47 and began a rapid plummet to the surface of the Earth. Ahead of her, Lieutenant Conor Raslawski began to slow his descent as they hit 10,000 feet.

The 16 year-old pushed herself through the last 5 stages- she could make it to this one. She was fairly confident that she would pass, up until she broke cloud cover.  
“WATER, WATER!” she screamed, spotting land about 2,500 feet out. She was at 3,000 feet. “Shit, shit, shiiiiiit!” yelled Conor, and Sergeant Qyzen Trosvik behind her swore multiple times in Russian. Yanking her chute open, Sara attempted to glide to the shore.

Long story short: she missed.

She sank down into the muddy bottom of the ocean, ripping her parachute off. She attempted to move forward, only to manage to pull all of one foot free. She gasped, precious air escaping from her lungs and water flooding in. Choking, she flailed around, desperate to get free.

A biotic push lifted her straight out of the banks and onto the shore. Sara heaved, water rushing from her lungs and out of her nose and mouth. A biotic charge slammed into a rock next to her, and a flash of red caught her attention.

“Thanks, Commander,” she wheezed, straightening back out.

“Don’t mention it,” Commander Shepard replied, shaking off the water from her wetsuit.

Taking tally of the group landing, Sara realized that there was nobody else. Well, shit.

“Yeah,” Shepard drawled, and Sara blushed, realizing she said that aloud.

“Well, Ryder,” Shepard sighed, hefting her M-7 Lancer, “ready to show a little girl power?”

Sara grinned. “Oorah, Commander,” she said, racking the bolt of her own sniper rifle. Together, the two Marines ventured into the jungle together.

 

**Eden Prime  
Milky Way galaxy, Exodus Cluster, Utopia System  
Alliance Outpost A-83-B  
YEAR: 2183  
FIRST LIEUTENANT SARA RYDER, SAMC, MARINE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND  
DESIGNATION: N6**

 

“WILLIAMS, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” Ryder yelled, ducking under a geth trooper and shoving her omniblade through it as she sprang up behind it. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams responded by blasting a geth juggernaut’s shields and hurling an incendiary grenade at it.

“WITH ALL DUE RESPECT LT, HELL NO!” she yelled back. Ryder swore, and raised her M-3 Predator, putting a few rounds into a gas tank, and blowing up an entire squad plus an armature. Ryder spun around and glared at Williams, helmet blown off long ago.

“I need someone to make it out alive and tell the Alliance what the fuck happened!” Ryder screamed over the gunfire. Another marine shouldered an AT (anti-tank) launcher and fired a missile straight into a colossus’ thin neck. The drone collapsed on top of the two hunters beneath it.

The marines sent up a cheer, then stopped as a geth fighter strafed the entire defensive line, raining blood, armor, and dirt over the survivors. The civilians were running with the 731 Marines behind them. Sara stared at Williams, gesturing towards the wilds.

“Go,” she whispered, hand on her shoulder. Williams bit her lip, sniffled once, and kissed Sara hard on the lips, and ran off. Sara watched her go, clutching her rifle. A round hitting her shields reminded her of what she was up against, and she turned back to the fight.

“MARINES, HOLD THE LINE!” she shouted, letting loose with 15 round bursts from someone’s dropped M-7. The marines around her roared, and valiantly held the geth back from the city entrance. Until it showed up.

A giant ship, shaped like a weird squid/hand/claw thing, descended, and a tentacle thing raised towards the Marines. Ryder’s eyes widened.  
“GET DOWN!” she shouted diving into a deep crater. Another marine landed on top of her, and another next to her. Then a flash of red and a roaring foghorn noise was the last thing she remembered.


	2. Wake Me Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up (in a somewhat violent manner).

**Unknown Location**

**YEAR: UNKNOWN**

**1LT SARA RYDER, SAMC MARSOC N6**

**STATUS ACCORDING TO ALLIANCE REPORTS: KILLED-IN-ACTION ON EDEN PRIME**

_ “We need A NEG, now!” the medic called out. Flames spat out of the ruins of the main colony on Eden Prime, and dead colonists, marines, and geth littered the ground. Hundreds of miles away, the SSV Normandy was speeding to the Citadel with an unconscious Commander Gabrielle Shepard. _

_ Alec surveyed the scene. Andromeda Initiative personnel had rushed to the scene, already hoping to recruit Sara, but sped up everything when they heard the colony was under attack. _

_ While he remained cool and collected on the outside, Alec was fuming and terrified on the inside. It was his fault his daughter got assigned to this backwater assignment, due to his history. When they landed, they immediately ran to Sara’s last known location. _

_ When they arrived, Alec stopped cold. Lying in a pile of dirt and blood and gore, was Sara. He started digging her out with his hands, and as he observed her full body, he- _

Sara awoke in a violent biotic storm. She ripped off her restraints and sent out an Annihilation wave, destroying anything within 2m of her. Holding a Backlash shield in one hand and a Lance in the other, she scanned her environment, breathing heavily.

Frightened doctors and random patients stared at her in fear, and looking behind her, she saw a doctor that was checking on her impaled on a jagged piece of metal stuck in the wall. He gurgled a bit, staring at her helplessly, precious lifeblood flowing from his abdomen onto the floor.

Sara looked away, eyes hardening, scanning the crowd. She saw someone move their hand to their pistol, and she prepared to throw her Lance, arm cocking back-

“SAM, voice activation override one-tree-alpha-tango-two. Stop Sara,” a voice boomed. Sara stopped, controlled by some outside pow- wait a minute…

“SAM?” she asked aloud, speaking for the first time. A buzz in the back of her skull started up, and a voice in her head answered, “Hello, Lieutenant Ryder.”

SAM- the Simulated Adaptive Matrix. An AI- the same AI that her dad had developed to save her mom, which failed, and resulted in his dishonorable discharge from the Alliance Marine Corps, and her shitty assignments.

She sighed, and relinquished her biotics. As the purple/blue energy died down, SAM gave her back control of her limbs. She lowered them and shook them out a bit, wincing at the pain that suddenly encompassed her entire body.

“Everyone out,” Alec said, and nobody questioned it as people walked, wheeled, or limped out. Some people loaded the dead doctor on a stretcher and brought him out, too.

Looking at her father, she noticed the new greys in his hair, completing the salt-and-pepper look. He looked up at her. “You probably have a lot of questions,” he said, not bothering with pleasantries.

Sara nodded, and he gestured for her to begin.

“Where am I?” she spat, glancing around the space skeptically. “A private medical facility in New York City,” her father responded, folding his arms.

“What am I doing here?” she asked, glaring. “Recovering,” Alec grunted.

“From wh-” she began, then sank to her knees. The geth, the giant ship, a red laser… it all came back to her now. She grabbed her head, and began hyperventilating.

She looked up to her father, and saw herself in his memories, transferred via SAM. Tears streaked out of her eyes.

“Why couldn’t you let me die?” she whispered.

Alec’s throat tightened, and he was vaguely aware of Cora and Scott outside listening in. How does he answer this? How does he tell his daughter he loves her after neglecting her for years?

“Because…” he began, unable to find the words, “because… you… I, uh… I… you’re my daughter, Sara,” he breathed out. The unflappable, infallible exterior crumbled, revealing the man beneath the armor.

Sara stared at him, confused. Scott chose that time to enter, rushing to his sister’s side, hugging her close. Sara curled in on herself, letting her younger brother hold on to her. She leaned into the embrace, sobbing and hiccuping.

Cora walked up to him, pulling him away. He glared at her, but she held her ground and shook her head.  _ Let her be. _

Alec sighed, and made a hasty retreat from the medlab. He barged into his quarters, fell onto his bed, and did something he hadn’t even done when Ellen died- he cried.

Sara was still haunted by the image of herself in her dad’s memory. She didn’t even understand how she was alive…

_ Alec stared in shock and horror. Sara was… just, gone. Her left arm was missing from the shoulder, and her right forearm was gone, the hand only connected to the rest of the arm by a few strings of nerve and muscle. Her unprotected head was severely burned, and she was missing her right eye. Her jaw was unhinged, hanging on by the left side only. Her chest was torn open, and he could see her heart barely pumping. Her large intestines were torn, and feces were spewed all over the ground, mixing with the blood. Both her legs were blown off, the left from the hip, and the right from the knee. _

_ Alec stared in horror, and tore off his helmet and vomited. Suddenly, a gasp and gurgling tore him from his stupor. Sara was  _ **_alive_ ** _. _

_ His mind already racing with ways of how to save his daughter, he turned and bellowed, “ _ **_MEDIC_ ** _!” _

_ Sara was barely holding on to her life, and Alec grasped her shoulder. _

_ “Stay with me, Sara, stay with me,” he breathed, as a stretcher arrived. _

Sara fell asleep in her brother’s arms, and he laid her back in her redone bed. They sedated her to prevent any extra biotic wakeups. Cora watched Scott hold Sara’s hand before kissing her forehead and left.

Cora walked up to her sleeping form and put a single rose in a cup of water next to her. Taking one look back, she left and rubbed a hand over her face.

In her mind, Sara asked SAM a question:

“How am I alive?”

SAM didn’t respond for a long while, finally deciding upon a response.

“Because your father couldn’t lose another from his family, Sara. He may not act like it, but he does care,” he said.

Sara mentally nodded, finally drifting off to sleep. Sara dreamt of Prothean digs, fierce battles, and a lovely marine she had left behind.


	3. Rise and Die

**1 YEAR LATER**

**ANDROMEDA INITIATIVE LUNA BASE**

**SOL SYSTEM, MILKY WAY GALAXY**

**PATHFINDER TEAM TRAINING COURSE**

**SPECIALIST SARA RYDER (RECONNAISSANCE)**

“Fire.”

On the command, a dozen rifles shook as rounds were ejected from the muzzles. Targets were riddled with bullets by the time the 30 round thermal clips ran out.

“Reload!”

Sara slammed the eject switch on the side of her rifle- a brand new M-8 Avenger- and it spat out the smoking thermal clip, landing next to her growing pile of ejected ammunition. Opening the upper receiver, she slapped a new clip in and slammed the receiver closed, shouting, “Changed!” when she had racked the bolt again.

To her left was Specialist Scott Ryder, her brother- a First Contact Specialist. Her right held Lieutenant Cora Harper, their strategist and Tactical Situations Specialist. She was also the second-in-command of Ark Hyperion’s Pathfinder team.

She rested her rifle’s stock back in the crook of her shoulder as her father, the rangemaster, called out, “SHOOTERS READY!”

One breath in, exhale. Hold. Wait. Breathe in, exhale…

“FIRE!”

Bang, bang, bang.

**\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

“Yo, Big Ryder,” called out Liam Kosta, their Crisis Response and Security Specialist. Sara turned, towel wrapped around her neck and workout sweats halfway up her legs. She raised an eyebrow at him, resulting in a very flustered Brit.

“I’ll, uh, wait for you to, ahh.. finish..” he mumbled lamely, causing Sara to scoff. Pulling her pants all the way up, she cringed at the motors she heard working in her arm. 

“SAM, turn down the audio,” she mumbled, and she could finally no longer hear the fucking EDM playing in some kid’s room fourteen levels up.

Turning to look at Costa, she hummed, causing him to turn around to face her again. Bending over to lace her boots, she glanced back up, sighing again.

“Eyes up here, Costa,” she drawled, feeling his eyes leaking down her cleavage.

“Right, um, uh, yeah, okay,” he stuttered.

“Harper wanted to know if you wanted to spar in C-94R,” he stammered out, executing a quick about face and marching out of the locker room. Sara grinned a tad. Facing off against the blonde was always fun, and it wasn’t just because her tank top was always a bit tight and her breasts were a bit bouncy… okay, maybe it was entirely that. And getting pinned…  _ god, yes _ .

Making her way to the combat room in a hoodie, she busied herself in the elevator by wrapping her hands. At the ding, she looked up and flipped up her hood, shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets. 

Opening the door, she walked right into a pair of breasts.  _ This could be worse _ , she thought. Looking up, she saw none other than her supposed sparring partner.

“Hey, Sara,” Cora chirped, smiling. Sara hummed, irritated at having to crane her neck to look at the other woman. Cora had gotten used to her silence and noises being words.

“Heard you wanted to spar again?” Sara asked, leaning against the doorframe. Cora smirked and got closer. Like, really close. Close enough to feel her body heat close.

“I know I might’ve shot you down earlier, but I’m willing to reconsider,” she breathed in Sara’s ear, causing shivers to course through her body. Sara swallowed hard. “W-what’ll it take?” she gasped, as Cora sank her teeth into that spot right under her ear.

“Give me a good match and I’ll let you know how I feel,” Cora hummed, trailing kisses along her neck. “Fuck, Cora,” Sara groaned, “I can’t fight for shit like this…”

Suddenly, a hand slipped under her hoodie and shirt, dancing across the skin of her abdomen. Moving back to press her forehead against Sara’s, Cora breathed softly.

“Not the kind of sparring match I meant,” she whispered, trailing a finger across Sara’s lips.

_ Oh _ . “Oh.”

Cora grinned, and grabbed her by the thighs and hoisted her up, effectively carrying her, but pinning her against the wall. Sara wrapped her arms and legs around her on instinct.

“I think I need some proper recon of my quarters, Recon Specialist,” Cora grinned, kissing all around her mouth- actually, everywhere  _ but _ her mouth.

“Very well, ma’am. Lead the way,” Sara bit back playfully, cradling her head against her neck. Hoisting the smaller woman against her, Cora just about fucking  _ ran _ to the elevator. Once it stopped and Sara had about 5 new hickeys, she actually did run to her quarters.

Once inside, she threw Sara down on her bed and sensually stripped off her tank top and exercise shorts, leaving her topless and with just sheer white panties. Sara couldn’t pull her clothes off fast enough.

Later, in a sweaty mess of hair, tangled limbs, and spooning somewhere in that, Cora whispered, “Consider this position reconsidered.” Sara nodded off, melting against her embrace. She still felt the ghost of lips reciting poetry on her ear as she slept off the afterglow, however. Now, it was the smell of fresh flowers and dirt that lulled her to sleep. She wasn’t sure which she preferred.

**634 YEARS LATER**

**ARK HYPERION**

**HELEUS CLUSTER, ANDROMEDA GALAXY**

**PATHFINDER TEAM**

**SPECIALIST SARA RYDER (RECONNAISSANCE)**

“Attention: all Pathfinder team members report to Armory 24-2D. Attention: all Pathfinder team me-” The standard announcement voice was overridden, and Sara glanced suspiciously at the PA.

“All crew members, this is Captain Dunn! Brace for impact! I say, brace for imp-” Dunn was cut off as the ark slammed into something. Doctor Lexi, who was examining Sara, stumbled and fell onto the specialist, who in turn stood her up and threw them both out of the incoming stasis pod barreling towards them.

In mid-jump, however, they stayed in mid-jump.

“Shit,” Sara groaned, opening her omnitool.

“Bridge, this is Cryo. We’ve lost art grav back here, and we got pods floating around. Need someone to reset grav on the outside,” she ordered, and Cora responded immediately. “Copy that, Ryder. Resetting gravity… now,” she yelled, and suddenly Sara’s face met floor.

Groaning as she pushed herself back up, Sara spat into her omnitool, “Fucking  _ Christ _ , Harper- a little more warning next time?” Suddenly, a pair of boots was in front of her face, and looking up revealed one Lieutenant Cora Harper smirking down at her.

Scowling, Sara finally stood up and rolling her neck. “The fuck happened, Harper?” she asked, gazing around the medbay. “Not too sure myself,” Cora said, “but it looks like-”

“ _ SARA! _ ” Doctor Carlyle cried across the medbay, gesturing her over frantically.

Not bothering to brush off Cora and just running by her, she slid next to the doctor, immediately asking, “What’s wrong?” He just stared at the stasis pod in front of them blankly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Feeling a sense of dread build in her, she turned towards it. Reading the name on the display, she fell to her knees, awkwardly embracing the pod, banging on it, and screaming.

“NO!” she cried, tears flowing from her eyes, fists bruising themselves banging on the pod. “NO, NO,  **NO, NO, NOOOO** !!!” 

“SCOTT!” Sara sobbed, finally having been gently pried off by Cora, who promptly received a crying former marine in her embrace. Cora looked at the pod and stifled a sob of her own.

“ **RYDER, SCOTT** **[] ID:** **49201-A93K-P03** **[] STATUS:** **_DECEASED_ ** ”.

Cora held Sara against her as her friend and lover cried for her brother. Again, the PA sounded over the ship.

“Pathfinder Team, disregard former orders and assemble on the bridge. All members of Pathfinder Team, to the bridge, now,” Alec’s voice boomed, reverberating throughout the room.

Cora pulled a tearful Sara away, murmuring, “Let’s go.” Sara struggled, pulling away and reaching for her brother’s pod. 

“Let me go!” she cried, squirming against Cora’s iron grip. Everyone in the medbay stared at her, shocked.

“Scott!  **Scott!** **_SCOTT!!!_ ** ” On the last cry, the doors shut and Cora carried her to the tram. Slumping in a seat with a mourning Ryder, Cora sighed. 

Sara turned towards her and gripped her shirt, burrowing her face into Cora’s neck and crying. Cora leaned back and just held her. She wanted to do more, but she didn’t want to push their friends-with-benefits relationship.

“Hey, Sara, I’m sor-” Cora was cut off by a set of quivering lips smashing against her own. Sara leaned her forehead against her’s, still hiccuping slightly. “Don’t,” she croaked, sniffling. Cora mumbled, “Okay…” and just held her.

The embrace lasted until the tram doors opened, and Cora nudged Sara up, still holding her hand. The rest of the team stood on the bridge, and when the doors opened, they all turned towards the two women.

Alec pushed through, looking around, and then focusing on Cora. “What’s wrong with Sara?” he asked gruffly, looking at his daughter. “She’s crying because of what happened to Scott,” Cora replied emotionlessly. Sara’s hand tightened imperceptibly.

Alec’s attitude seemed to falter. “And where’s my son?” he asked more softly. Cora glanced at Sara, who looked up for the first time. She took a step forward, not letting go of Cora’s hand.

“Scott is dead,” Sara whispered. The entire bridge stopped at that. 

Dunn pushed through next to them. “How?” she asked.

Carlyle chose that moment to come in, rattling off, “Whatever we hit interrupted to revival process, and since SAM was linked via the implant, and electrical systems were shot to shit, his brain was.. fried, in simple terms.” Sara trembled again, squeezing Cora’s hand tightened.

“What happened?” Cora asked for the two, peeking out of the bridge’s viewport.

Her eyes widened as she took in the black, yellow, and orange… stuff… floating around outside the entire ark. 

“That happened,” Alec said, and pointed to a sphere in the distance. “Same thing that happened to Habitat 7.”

The rings and winding spirals of the phenomenon continued into the planet itself, resulting in an entire hemisphere being blackened and seemingly coming apart. Sara walked to the viewport and pressed her hands against it, leaving Cora’s side for the first time.

“What’s the job?” she asked, eyes hardening, voice becoming emotionless.

Alec turned to all of them, crossing his arms. “We get in, find out if this is safe harbor for the ark, and go from there. We need to see if this is New Earth,” he breathed deeply, “or a fucking hell.”

He pointed to Fischer, and barked, “Shuttles spinning up in 20. Get your gear and get to the shuttle bay! Move it!” The Pathfinder team scattered, and Dunn scowled, marching up to Alec.

“This is my ship, Ryder,” she growled, poking his chest, leaving the finger there. She held his gaze for several seconds, then sighed. “Make sure I know how to keep it safe, Pathfinder,” she said. Alec stared at her, then nodded. “Aye, aye, Captain,” he grunted, turning to Sara.

Sara stared at her father, not meeting his eye. Alec did the most unexpected thing ever: he hugged her. Cora watched wide-eyed from the door, and heard Alec say softly, “I know I wasn’t the best father, and Scott is tearing me up, too, but this is what he would’ve wanted- to make sure our dream wasn’t just a dream. I’m doing this for him.”

Sara stiffened, and finally relaxed, and hugged him back, seeming to surprise him. She mumbled something into his chest, and brushed past Cora, smiling at her slightly as she boarded the tram.

Cora nodded to Alec, who grabbed her arm before she turned to leave. “Fuck with my daughter,” he hissed, “and I fuck you up. Understood?” Cora gulped harshly, and nodded so fast her head was still shaking when she stopped.

As the team boarded the shuttles after kitting up, Sara walked up to Cora and looked at her feet. She brushed her bangs back over her ear from her eye, and bit her lip. Looking up to Cora, she quickly kissed her and stammered, “Stay safe,” and bolted into the other shuttle.

Kosta watched with doe eyes and stayed that way as the shuttle doors closed. Cora strapped into the co-pilot seat and prepared the shuttle for takeoff.

**“Alright, team,” Alec said, starting up the shuttle, “let’s go find us a home.” **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm an evil fucker.


	4. All ready, Jumpmaster!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unplanned airborne insertions are always fun.

**HABITAT 7**

**ERIKSON SYSTEM, HELEUS CLUSTER**

**634 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH (HUMAN YEAR 2819)**

**SPC SARA RYDER, ARK HYPERION PATHFINDER TEAM**

**RECONNAISSANCE SPECIALIST**

 

“Brace for re-entry!” Fisher shouted from the cockpit. Sara gripped the handrailing with both hands, as did Kosta next to her. The shuttle heated up and the shields flashed as the atmospheric re-entry scorched them. They held, however, and the shuttles shot through the cloud cover and into about the exosphere. 

“Um, the mountains are  _ floating _ ,” Kosta stated helpfully. Sara rolled her eyes and shot back, “Congratulations, you have eyes.” However, she too stared at the floating piles of stone, tendrils of electric discharges flying between them all.

“ _ Check low 10 o’clock _ ,” Alec murmured, “ _ Hyperion, we got signs of alien civilization down here _ .” The massive grey and blue structure was a stark contrast to the harsh mountains and dipping valleys.

Suddenly, the shuttle started buckling, and warning lights flashed. “Ionization pulses off the charts!” Fisher shouted, hands flying over the controls. “Better suit up!”

Sara grabbed her helmet, an N7 designation painted on the side, and slipped it over her head. The HUD flashed to life and displayed her shields and physiology, as well as interfacing her weapons to it.

“Oh shiiiiit!” Fisher swore, as a lightning bolt slammed into the side of the shuttle. The door and half the port side came off, and Kosta flew out, holding on to a small piece of the hull jutting out.

“RYDER!” he cried, looking down fearfully. Sara swore, and yelled, “KOSTA, HANG ON!” She prepped a biotic pull, and had him halfway to the passenger bay when the shuttle exploded behind her.

“FUCK!” she screamed as she was thrown from the shuttle, debris raining around her. She lost sight of Kosta as they fell through the mountains.

“PATHFINDER, SHUTTLE TWO IS GONE! I’M FREE FALLING AND UNABLE TO CONFIRM STATUS OF TEAMMATES!” Sara screamed, dodging a rock. She angled herself so her jump jet would slow her down. However, it spat out smoke and whined.

“SAM?!” she cried, hand reaching toward her parachute harness. “Jump jet in inoperable, Specialist,” SAM replied. “Parachute deployment is advised.”

“COPY THAT!” Sara replied, turning to have her entire front face the ground, and spread out her limbs. “Altitude is about 1500 feet from the surface directly beneath you,” SAM warned. “GOT IT!” Sara screamed, ripping the cord.

She grunted as the parachute jerked her shoulders up, and grabbed the handles.

“Descent is at an acccccccezzzzz-” SAM broke off, and Sara glanced at her HUD to see her connection status to SAM.  **NO CONNECTION** flashed in front of her, as well as  **COMMS OFFLINE** . Looking down again, Sara gasped as a pointed mountaintop gouged into her parachute.

“Oh shit,” she breathed as her parachute was torn from her body. She began to crash and roll her way down the side of the mountain, and then fell into open air, the ground easily a hundred feet below.

“Shitshitshiiiit!” she cried, and keyed her jump jet, hoping for a miracle. Twenty feet above the ground, it activated enough so she just felt like falling off her bunk bed. Groaning, she rolled onto her side.

“That,” gasp, “fucking,” cough, “rocked,” she breathed, grinning slightly. Footsteps crunching in the dirt prompted her to look over lazily, expecting a teammate.

What she was looking at was not a teammate.

The creature seemed to be made of… bone and cartilage? It also had turian/quarian-like legs, and carried a strange weapon. (Obviously a weapon, considering it had a hole facing her and a trigger.)

It spoke in a harsh tongue she didn’t understand, and in slow motion it shot something at her. Sara threw a barrier up and deflected it. The shot hit a random bush and lit it on fire. The creature stared at the burning bush and when it turned back, its head exploded from a double tap, courtesy of Sara’s M-11 Suppressor.

More footsteps crashed through the brush, and Sara prepared to unload another two rounds, but it was just Kosta who came stumbling into the clearing. Sara grabbed him before he ran off the edge.

“Nice entry,” she dryly remarked.

“Thanks- that was stupid of me,” he breathed. He turned around and his eyes widened. “The fuck is  _ that _ ?” Kosta exclaimed. Sara turned as well, and activated her scanner.

“No idea, but it’s DNA based,”she mumbled. Picking up the weapon it had, she scanned it as well. “No projectiles, it looks like,” she continued, then took aim at the cliff face and fired. Whatever came out scorched the rock, and Sara quickly scanned the burnt material.

“Holy shit,” Sara breathed, “it fires fucking plasma bolts.”

Kosta joined her, eying the weapon. “Hey, Ryder, looks like it’s shorting out…” True to his word, the weapon was rapidly heating and shooting small electrical discharges. Sara took no chances and hurled it to the edge, and it exploded after rolling off.

“Now we know that they are dangerous without proper study,” she remarked. Turning to Kosta, she pulled her M-99 Saber from her back, and loaded a thermal clip. Checking the scope, she nodded to herself, and hefted the weapon.

“Let’s get a move on,” she gestured towards a path leading towards the tall tower.

Thirty minutes later, the two were hunkered behind some rocks and observing more aliens roughing up Fisher. “Kosta, check your wea- is that a fucking M-9 Tempest?” she whispered incredulously. “Um, yes?” Kosta replied, loading in a thermal clip.

“Fucking piece of shit SMG,” Sara growled, handing him her N-7 Hurricane. “Use this instead,” she sighed.

Propping up her Saber on the rocks, she took aim at the alien hammering Fisher. Kosta dashed from rock to rock, and seemed to alert the other alien. Cursing, Sara watched their interaction, seeing it quickly escalate. She fired and blew its head clean off. Quickly turning, she also destroyed the head of the other alien, prompting a sigh of relief from Fischer.

Picking up her rifle as she rose, Sara ran ahead, and brushing past the shocked Kosta, she dropped in front of Fisher and immediately noticed the protruding femur. “Hold still,” she said, applying medigel to clean and start the healing process of the wound, and somewhat harshly splinted his leg using cooled debris. Fisher yelped and whimpered a bit, but mostly held his pain-induced noises down.

“Holy shit… Thanks guys…” he breathed.

“Don’t mention it,” Sara said, looking around. “Where are the others?”

“Greer and Kirkland were gone when I came to. I saw their footprints going towards the… uhh…” Fisher trailed off, resigning himself to vaguely wave at the giant alien tower Sara and Liam failed to notice before.

“What… is that…” Liam breathed, staring at it with wide eyes. Sara shoved in a new thermal clip, and topped off her ammunition from a nearby supply crate. 

Fisher grabbed the spare M-3 Predator she tossed to him, and then she brought her rifle to a low ready position and walked forward, black visor shining with the flames of the wreckage, as she replied to Kosta.

“It’s the objective.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, at least Rommel didn't flood abso-fucking-lutely everything this time.


	5. Fucking N7s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People die, Liam gets forcefully shut the fuck upped, and we have a brand new Dynamic Duo. Also, Greer and Fisher finally aren't left behind. Amateurs.

**HABITAT 7**

**ERIKSON SYSTEM, HELEUS CLUSTER**

**634 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH (HUMAN YEAR 2819)**

**SPC SARA RYDER, ARK HYPERION PATHFINDER TEAM**

**RECONNAISSANCE SPECIALIST**

**HOUR 2, DAY 0**

 

“Get down!” Sara hissed, shoving Kosta face first into the dirt. Lying prone next to him, Sara propped her rifle on her arm and looked at three more of the aliens walking around a figure in white and blue armor.

“Oh, shit,” she breathed, finger inching towards the trigger, “it’s Kirkland. They’ve fucking got Kirkland.”

Kosta pulled out his (read: borrowed) N7 Hurricane, and whispered, “Ready on you.”

Sara put the center of the crosshairs on the chest of the alien holding a rifle to Kirkland’s head. Her breathing evened out, the entire world falling out of focus beyond her and the scope. As the alien’s hand moved towards the trigger, Sara fired.

Squeeze,  _ BANG _ , squeeze,  _ BANG _ !

Two rounds flew in slow motion, and green blood gushed from the dual gaping chest wounds that appeared. The rifle fell, and the body lurched forward, covering Kirkland. Lucky thing, as another one started shooting Kirkland, but hit the dead body.

Kosta sprang forward, slashing a leg with his omniblade as he ran by, then stopped, and while coming back up, he emptied a solid fifteen rounds into it from the submachine gun.

Sara herself thrust herself forward with her biotics, and unsheathed an asari sword from her back, driving it through the abdomen before “teleporting” behind the alien soldier and switching to an icepick grip, thrusting the blade backwards and out through the skull.

Yanking the sword out of the body with a wet  _ sshlk _ , Sara sheathed it again and grabbed her rifle.

Kosta was helping Kirkland sit up, propping him up with his arm. Sara walked over, watching the mountains.

“He alright?” she asked Kosta, who was running a scan over Kirkland. Looking up, he nodded. “Look’s fine, but he might have shock,” he reported. Sara hummed, and spotted a flash from a mountaintop. Squinting at it, her eyes widened.

“SNIPER, MOVE!” she hollered, running to slam the two others down. Just as she was half an arm’s reach from them, a plasma bolt slammed into Kirkland’s helmet through the faceplate, running through his head along his scalp.

Kirkland screamed as his scalp and the upper part of his brain was scorched off. His screams became choking gasps, as he was unable to gain enough oxygen to breathe. Quickly dragging him behind cover with Kosta, Sara made a split second decision. Pulling out her M-11, she placed the muzzle under Kirkland’s jaw and fired.

He didn’t make a sound after that.

A few moments of complete quiet passed, and Sara took a gamble. Hurriedly taping a piece of Kirkland’s broken faceplate to her muzzle, she stuck her rifle straight up and focused on the reflection off the visor’s transparent material.

“Anything?” Kosta asked, fingering his trigger. Sara bit her lip, and slowly rotated it around, seeing nothing. She pulled her rifle back to her and grabbed Kirkland’s corpse.

“One last check,” she muttered, and thrust the corpse up.

Another period of silence, and no sniper was shooting or even looking at them. Lowering the body, Sara sighed. “All clear,” she said, standing up.

Kosta stood up, albeit shakier, and glanced at Kirkland’s blood that covered his uniform jacket. “Fucking…” he swore, breathing becoming faster. 

“DAMMIT!” he cried, kicking a rock. “FUCK!” 

Sara calmly reached over to grab Kirkland’s ID tag and marked his body’s location for pick up. She walked over to Kosta, and kneed him in the groin, followed by a punch to the gut.

“Shut the fuck up, you little fucking pussy,” she growled, grabbing his lapel and forcing his helmet onto hers. “People die in a firefight, and you’re going to have to fucking accept it, so just shut the FUCK UP, and CONTROL YOUR DAMN SELF, so I don’t have to go back to the Hyperion down TWO teammates. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” she barked, complete with shoving her sword into his neck.

Kosta gulped, the action pressing his throat even more against the blade, before nodding slowly.

Sara removed the sword, and threw him down. Quickly scanning the ruins nearby for future reference, she turned towards the way they were going already, and spotted flares. 

“Let’s move it, Kosta!” she shouted, taking off.

 

**SHUTTLE 1 LZ**

**LT CORA HARPER, PATHFINDER TEAM XO**

“INCOMING!” Hayes shouted, diving behind a rock as plasma bolts scorched the shuttle and surrounding area. Multiple aliens surrounded the humans, and they were fighting a losing battle. Added to the fact that Alec had run off, they were gonna die, most likely.

“HENRY, PUT DOWN SOME GRENADES ON THE LEFT FLANK!” she cried, tossing him a grenade belt. The doctor quickly chucked a few frags over his head, and an alien head landed next to him.

“WE GOT A BIG ONE, RIGHT SIDE!” Shouted Hayes, who moved to kill it. However, her shots bounced off its shields, and her eyes widened. “Oh shi-” she muttered before a plasma round tore through her torso and exited her back. She screamed, as Henry dragged her into the shuttle itself.

“SOS ON CHANNEL 154.3, DOES ANYONE COPY?” Cora yelled desperately. Static, and she cursed again, before sliding a new slug into her shotgun. Breathing quickly, she popped her head over the rock, shotgun brought to fire, and-

“No need to try to destroy my ear drums in the field, too, Cora,” Sara’s voice crackled, and a flash of black and red zapped between the rocky outcropping above her. Cora turned beet red, and even Hayes chuckled wetly.

“Hold on, I got this,” she continued, and biotically rammed a big alien, continuing with a stab into its chest, which she yanked upwards and spilled its entrails. Tearing her helmet off for a quick second, she gave a classic New York City taxi whistle, drawing everyone’s attention.

She slipped her helmet back on and grabbed the, for lack of a better word, minigun, and hefted it.

“Any takers?” she shouted, then fired into the mass of aliens. Plasma rounds scorched and tore bodies, and Cora capitalized on it, grabbing Hayes’ rifle and returning fire, now effectively at a distance. Kosta came up next to her, his M-9 long gone, N-7 Hurricane blazing away.

“Ever heard of ‘conserving ammo’, Kosta?” Cora snapped annoyingly. He wasn’t even hitting much. Fucking moron.

“WHAT?!” Kosta screamed, reaching for another thermal clip, then realized: he was out. He turned in time to catch a plasma round to the face, and screamed as the round tore his cheek open.

Cora swore, and ripped open his blowout kit, quickly applying a pressure seal to the small hole in his helmet. They’d deal with the wound later. Besides, the plasma cauterized it already.

Turning back to the fight, she saw Hayes weakly firing an M-3 into the body of a charging creature. Henry was covering the left flank, M-8 cracking in tight, controlled bursts. Each one was extremely lethal, opening gaping chest wounds, immobilizing targets, and destroying weapons. There was a certain advantage to having a former Marine corpsman on your team. After all, “every Marine is a rifleman”. 

Sara was… Cora frowned. Where’s Sara?

Her answer came in the form of a flaming enemy shuttle crash landing. A bright purple light zapped out of it before it crashed, but just barely. Sara materialized beside her, gasping harshly. A jagged piece of shrapnel was protruding from her ribs, and she yanked it out roughly, slapping medigel on the wound before applying a seal to her hardsuit.

Turning over to Cora, she bumped her helmet against her shoulder. Across the field, silence reigned. Dead bodies covered the ground, and Kosta still screamed inside his helmet.

Henry got to work on patching up Hayes’ mortal wound, and Sara opened a private channel to Cora.

“Hey, you,” she whispered, staring up at the blonde. Cora leaned back, murmuring a soft, “Hey yourself.” Sara ejected a thermal clip from her rifle and then loaded in a new one. “Been better,” she grunted, pushing herself up.

“How’s Hayes, Doc?” she asked, walking over. Henry looked up, eyes grave. “Bad,” he said, “and if I don’t get her back on deck within an hour, she will die.” Ryder nodded, as Hayes weakly gasped out, “B-Before… I got… h-hit… fixed… c-comms…” 

As if on cue, Alec hit up everyone’s comm. “Lieutenant, status?” he asked. Cora heaved herself up, wincing at the pain in her leg. “One CAT Alpha, two CAT Bravos, everyone else is a CAT Charlie. I got two en route from Shuttle 2’s crash, including one of the Bravos, and one KIA.”

“Solid copy. Gather all the Charlies and RV at my position. I think I fou- shit, going dark,” Alec hissed, cutting the line. All the Charlies, Cora mused. That was her, Sara, Henry, and Greer, but Henry was tending to the wounded and would need Greer to provide security and pilot the shuttle.

“Alright, Sara, you heard the old man,” Cora sighed, grabbing her shotgun. Sara groaned, but shot straight up with her rifle cradled in her arms. Fucking N7s.

Greer was carrying Fisher fireman-style from the rocks they had hid behind, covering their rear. “Need me to go with?” he asked, as Henry started applying a makeshift splint to Fisher’s leg.

“Negative, Henry needs an extra gun here, and we still need to… to retrieve Kirkland’s remains,” Sara muttered. Taking the grenades from Henry, and accepting the spare thermal clips from Hayes, Sara dragged Kosta over to Henry’s makeshift camp inside the shuttle. Turning back to Cora, she gestured to the rocks.

“C’mon, Harper,” Sara yelled, running for the sheer drop and blasting herself up with biotics, hauling herself over the edge. She turned around, and though the mouthpiece covered her… well… mouth, Cora could hear the grin in her voice. “We got a Pathfinder to find!”


	6. FUBAR (My favorite word in German)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM NOT DEAD!
> 
> Everything goes wrong for our dear explorers (read: conquerors) and the start of a journey begins, with no trail back.

**HABITAT 7**

**ERIKSON SYSTEM, HELEUS CLUSTER**

**634 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH (HUMAN YEAR 2819)**

**SPC SARA RYDER, ARK HYPERION PATHFINDER TEAM**

**RECONNAISSANCE SPECIALIST**

**HOUR 5, DAY 0**

 

Sara and Cora picked their way through the dead bodies of the aliens outside the gate Sara had found with Liam earlier. Kneeling next to one, Sara fingered a wound. Cora glanced back, watching her. Sara scoffed.

“Incendiary rounds,” she muttered, sneering at it. “Looks like the Pissfinder’s been busy…” Cora damn near choked on her own saliva at what Sara just called the Pathfinder. She brushed past Cora, growling, “Let’s go.”

A few mere seconds later, they arrived at a small hole in the foliage, causing Sara to roll her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Cora asked, frowning. Sara turned, prepping to biotically launch herself up. “Already scouted here,” she drawled, blasting herself up when she finished.

Cora launched herself up, as well, and started moving forward until a raised fist stopped her. Pathfinder was kneeling on one knee, rifle crossing his chest as he observed the clearing before them.

“Glad you made it,” he stated, immediately pointing to the patrolling guards. A shield barrier was connected by various totem-esque poles, with what seemed to be lightning rods near them. “I think these aliens are visitors, trapped here like us… Though they came prepared, and built this command post…” he said, gesturing accordingly. 

“That spire isn’t part of it, though- different architectural design,” Sara notes, hand tapping at the side of her helmet to adjust her HUD's magnification. Cora’s less-than-stellar regulation helmet doesn’t have the N7 goodies, so she settles for using Sara’s rifle scope.

“Right, but see that blue beam emitting from the top?” At this, both Sara and Cora scoff- kinda hard to miss it, even from atmo. “I think that’s what’s controlling the weather and making it malfunction.” Cue snorting- what gave it away, the swirling storm with the eye around the beam? “We need to get in there and fix it.” Okay, hold the fuck up.

“They still have a shield perimeter erected… but you somehow planted explosives on the lightning rods without being noticed… or maybe not,” Sara snarked. Indeed, the aliens were now trying to pry the detonite off the towers, prompting Sara to say, “Look’s like it’s game time,” and immediately put a round through a hostile skull.

(Do they even have skulls?)

Alec swore, and boosted himself off the cliff while shouting, “SAM, blow the charges!” Cora racked Liam’s X-7 before biotically launching herself into the fight. Plasma, bullets, drones, and biotics flew everywhere, exploding, zapping, and kicking up sparks and blood.

This will be fun.

-

“Hold the line! I need to get this door open!” 

This is not fun.

After effectively blitzkrieging their way to the command center- or at least what they assumed was a command center- the humans soon found themselves surrounded, outgunned, and running low on ammo.

“I only have four rifle clips left, and two for my sidearm, so make it snappy, old man,” Sara shouted, sliding across a platform while tossing a grenade toward oncoming foot soldiers.

“I have about three clips left, and seven slugs!” Cora reported, before launching an aforementioned slug into a giant alien, blowing the entire head off. “Six slugs now!”

Sara ducked behind a crate, and ejected the thermal clip, before using her biotics to smash it into the eye of another hostile alien. It screamed as the superheated metal scorched the interior of its eye socket, flailing around on the ground.   
  
Grabbing her pistol, she began emptying rounds into a bulky alien’s shields, and as they finally shattered, her clip ran empty. Reaching for another, she realized she had just expended the last of them.   
  
“Shit,” Sara said.

Growling, the hulking figure hefted its cannon again, intent on vaporizing her. Eyes wide, Sara did something really stupid.

She charged into the alien.

Boosting herself up with her jump jets, she hooked her legs around the alien’s… neck… area? Anyway, she flew into its face and knocked it down, before materializing her omniblade and repeatedly stabbing its face, chest,  _ everything _ . 

She was thrown off by the creature, and it roared at her before charging. Bracing herself, the beast tackled her, throwing both of them off the platform. As they grappled midair, both jerked to a stop. Cora stood over the platform, face scrunched up and arm bathed in purple.

Taking advantage of the creature’s confusion, Sara slapped a grenade on that bitch, and Cora released her as she rocketed herself up. Dropping her hold on the behemoth, Cora and Sara watched it plummet and explode.

Turning around, they watched Alec walk into a large room built around a large holographic apparatus.

“Keep watch,” Sara muttered anxiously, making her way to her father. As she made her way forward, a giant blue light shot out of the tower, striking the storm clouds. Sara started running, feeling her cybernetic organs begin to tingle. 

“DAD!” she called, just a few meters away. He turned to her, a small smile on his face. Then everything went wrong.

A giant blast of energy blasted Alec into Sara, and both flew off the platform. Her hardsuit systems were failing, her inorganic body parts were failing, and she falling really fucking fast. She vaguely noticed Cora in her peripheral vision staring at her in horror, eyes and mouth wide.

A strangled, “ **_SARA!_ ** ” reached her ears as the ground rushed up to meet her. And then everything went black.


	7. When the Dust Settles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI IM NOT DEAD
> 
> i also made to senior year so yay!
> 
> gonna start another MEA rerun with mods. after i finish my fallout 4 run. godwilling.

**ARK HYPERION**

**ERIKSON SYSTEM, HELEUS CLUSTER**

**634 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH (HUMAN YEAR 2819)**

**SPC SARA RYDER, ARK HYPERION PATHFINDER TEAM**

**RECONNAISSANCE SPECIALIST**

**HOUR 18, DAY 0**

 

* * *

 

 

_ “We’re losing her! Heart is failing- get me a defibrillator!” _

_ Pain. It hurts, it hurts, ohmyfuckinggodithurts- _

_ “Must have had an EMP- cybernetics are failing. SAM, I need you to-” _

_ “Three, two, one… CLEAR!” _

Sara shot up.

Bad idea. She fell back with a groan. She went to raise her arm to her head, but it never came. Looking down, she saw why.

Her prosthetics had been removed, and she lay under a thermal blanket on a bed in SAM Node.  _ Wait, SAM Node? _

“Hello, Sara,” SAM said. “Whatthefu-” Sara spluttered, her lack of limbs being the only thing preventing her from falling off the bed.

“SAM, what’s going on?” She asked timidly. “Stand by- alerting Doctor T’Perro,” SAM replied. Suddenly, the door to SAM Node opened, and in came Lexi, Cora, and Liam. Lexi immediately pulled out a flashlight and grabbed her face.

Lexi has shitty bedside manners.

“Look here,” she ordered, holding her index finger up. Sara followed it, swallowing thickly. “Lexi,” she started, “where’s my prosthetics?” The asari looked up from her tablet, speaking detachedly, “That blast from the tower had an EMP-like quality. All your cybernetics were failing. Including your lungs, heart, and organ systems. Your limbs were removed for later repair, so we could focus on immediate restoration of your critical body systems.”

Sara gulped. “How long?” she asked, looking at the other two. Cora looked very hard at the wall behind Sara, and Liam shifted uneasily.

“A few minutes more. You’ve been out more than 15 hours,” Lexi said. Sara breathed a sigh of relief at that, before addressing the elephant in the room.

“Erm, guys? Why are we in SAM Node?”

All three glanced at one another. “Sara,” Cora started, “when you and the Pathfinder were blown off, your faceplate was torn off on impact. Plus, your lungs were already failing.” Cora breathed out shakily. “Your father thought of only one solution,” she continued, looking up to stare at Sara in the eyes. “He transferred SAM to you directly via helmet neural interface,” she whispered. “You’re the new Pathfinder.”

Silence.

Cora watched her nervously. Biotic energy flickered around her, looking for an outlet.

“Kosta,” Sara gritted her teeth, “get the  **fuck** out, you pathetic police washout.”

Liam swallowed, grimacing, red beginning to stain his gauze wrapped cheek. He scurried out.

“Lexi, please get my prosthetics ready,” Sara mumbled. Lexi placed a hand in Sara’s hair, ruffling it gently before also leaving.

Sara and Cora faced each other.

“Why?”

Cora slumped against the wall. She dragged a hand over her face.

“I don’t know.”

Sara just stared at her lap. “Motherfucking cocksucker,” she spat.

Cora looked up from under her bangs.

“Fucker tried to control me my whole damn life. Tried to  **control** my life. I hated him for so damn long,” Sara seethed. “Joining the Corps, going through ITC- I thought  _ maybe  _ I would get some recognition, some acknowledgement- something!” Sara looked up at Cora. “When I graduated the Villa, you know what he said to me? ‘Took you long enough.’ What the fuck? What the ACTUAL fuck, huh? I graduated just barely under Gabrielle Shepard, and I was just only out of Basic. Then the shithead goes off on his AI shit and gets MY career fucked over, and I got assigned to motherfucking EDEN PRIME. For TWO. DAMN. YEARS. That was my N6 assignment. My trial by fire. EDEN PRIME, CORA!” Sara screamed, tears rolling down her face.

“Only fucking good thing there was Ashley,” she muttered, a dark smirk clouding her face. Cora’s heart wrenched. Ashley Williams. Gunnery Ch-  _ Operations Chief _ , her mind corrected. Sara’s ex-girlfriend from the 212 Marine Battalion. The one she left behind- unwillingly- when Alec “rescued” her and brought her back to life using stolen research from Cerberus. Something about Lazarus.

Sara wasn’t done yet, though.

“Then that BASTARD has the fucking NERVE to bring me BACK TO LIFE after I DIED, and doesn’t even let me tell anyone I’m actually ALIVE. What sick bastard does that, huh?” Sara vented. “Now, I’m stuck in a brand new galaxy, with brand new aliens, with brand new weapons, with brand new ways to kill us, and brand new problems. Know what’s not brand new? FIXING MY ASSHOLE DAD’S SHIT!”

At that, Sara unintentionally released a biotic shockwave that crumpled the steel in the room’s walls and singular floor. Cora stumbled a bit, but made her way to Sara, who was trying to curl up in a ball and cry. She reached out for her… friend? Lover?... but was slapped away by Sara’s right stump. 

“Just… just send Lexi in with my shit, alright?”

Cora swallowed hard and breathed, “Okay,” ignoring the feeling of agony blooming in her chest. As she left and Lexi entered, Cora ran to her quarters.

She made sure to throw away the wet sheets.

 

* * *

 

Sara wrapped her arm around Lexi’s shoulders and limped onto the bridge.

Captain Dunn just glanced over, still watching the stars and planets streak by. 

“Good to see you up, Ryder,” she said. Sara grunted. Her eyes were still rimmed red, her nose was leaking a bit of snot, and she still had a hiccup from the sobbing she did earlier. Her prosthetics and cybernetics were now directly linked to SAM, which allowed him unfettered access to her body. Gross.

“What’s the plan, skipper?” Sara asked tiredly, leaning on the railing instead of Lexi now. Dunn looked over, before barking, “Helm, bring us in.” The helmsman, a young British woman, replied, “Aye, aye, ma’am, throttling down for docking.”

Dunn turned back to the new Pathfinder, who was fidgeting in her N7 PT gear.

“The plan is to resupply and begin colonization missions,” she stated, jerking her head towards Sara. “That latter part is you, Pathfinder.” Sara’s jaw twitched.

Dunn sighed. “Look, kid, I was a fighter pilot turned bridge officer. I know better than to ask shitty questions and coddle you. So I’ll only ask this: are you ready to get to work?”

Sara stared at her, eyes devoid of any emotion. “Oorah, ma’am,” she muttered. Dunn turned away. “Hooyah, LT,” she replied, “time to earn your pay.”

“Ship dropping from FTL, ma’am,” Helm called out. The stars became dots instead of streaks, and Sara whistled appreciatively. 

Dunn keyed the intercom. “ _ Hyperion _ , this is Dunn. We’ve arrived.”

She turned.

“Welcome to the Nexus, Pathfinder. Welcome to Andromeda.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finally figured out how to make a horizontal line lmao im dumb


End file.
